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Theme Music

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, known as Irregular Hunter X (イレギュラーハンターX,Irregular Hunter X?) in Japan, is an enhanced remake of the original Mega Man X game released for the PlayStation Portable in 2005-2006. The game is also compatible and cross-playable with the PlayStation Vita via a PSN Download which was released at the PlayStation Vita's Launch on February 15, 2012.[1] It has several new features and several redesigns.

Contents

New Content

Brand-new 3D graphics.

Character and item redesigns and updates (primarily the Mavericks). Note that many of these redesigned items in this game are also similar in design and function to another 3D Mega Man X game, Mega Man X8, which was released in the same year as this title. Similar items for both games include (but are not limited to) the Dr. Light Capsule designs, Life Energy and Weapon Energy Refills, and Ride Armor design and mechanisms.

A new 4-chapter cinematic animation named The Day of Σ that shows the world before Sigma openly turns Maverick.

A Navigator appears in game speaking with X. She speaks directly with X in the opening level, but does not contact X during the levels, unlike the navigators of other games. Zero on the other hand, does not speak to X face-to-face after defeating the eight Mavericks but via radio transmission instead in this remake (Zero meets up with X and speaks to him in the classic version).

The ability to play as Vile after completing the game. Vile acquires unique weapons as he defeats each Maverick that attaches to his Arm, Shoulder, and Leg that must be equipped before each stage. He can use these three weapons an unlimited number of times, but he cannot use any weapons beyond those three once in a stage. Each attack uses some of Vile's quick-charging Weapon Energy. However, there is a drawback of Vile being unable to dash as a player despite being able to do so as a boss in X Mode. This has been somewhat compensated by allowing him to get the Speed Devil and Frozen Castle parts to increase his defense and speed. According to Keiji Inafune's comments in Mega Man X Official Complete Works, he deliberately chose Vile to be the second playable character in order to give players the opportunity to see the same event from a villain's perspective, feeling that it would have been "too obvious and boring" if the new option was to play as Zero.[2]

Much dialogue has been added to the game, mainly between X with the Mavericks, Vile, Zero and Sigma. Vile has similar conversations through his own game. These dialogues are fully voiced, bringing over the full-voiced dialogue features of Mega Man X8 into this game as well.

Strangely, Sigma's post-credit speech was cut.

At the end of the introductory stage, Vile now has an energy bar and X must defeat him in order to progress.

Some of the upgrades and bonuses have been moved as well. For example, the Foot Part is impossible to miss in the original, since X cannot proceed through Chill Penguin's stage without acquiring it. In Maverick Hunter X, the dash upgrade is located in Flame Mammoth's stage, in the secret area that houses the X-Buster upgrade. It is also significantly easier to reach this room, since the original game required the Helmet upgrade from Storm Eagle's stage to gain access.

In both this version and the original, the upgraded version of the X-Buster can be received from Zero. While it was identical to the capsule upgrade in the original, the remake version made it a point for X to be able to fire exactly the same charged shot that Zero himself uses while he is in possession of that buster initially. Since the design of X's Arm Parts is identical to those used by Zero, the transfer of the part from Zero to X in the remake will also grant X the same powerful shot that Zero has previously used against Vile's Ride Armor in the opening stage, although when X uses it himself during Free Play Mode it still cannot deal any damage to Vile's Ride Armor.

The stages in Sigma's fortress have completely different layouts.

Vile's battle against X and Zero is moved from near the beginning of the first fortress stage to the penultimate stage, right before the boss D-Rex.

Boss orders in the final stages have been completely changed in this remake:

1st Final Stage against Bosspider will involve re-matches against Launch Octopus and Boomerang Kuwanger.

3rd Final Stage against D-Rex will involve re-matches against Chill Penguin, Sting Chameleon and Flame Mammoth followed by Vile (without battling his Ride Armor) before facing D-Rex.

The method of acquiring the secret Hadouken capsule is also different from the original. It only requires one trip, but needs a no-damage run to make it appear.

The Hadouken itself works the same, with one key change: Sigma's final form is no longer immune to it, allowing players to defeat him in one hit.[3]

The in-battle voice acting for the 8 Mavericks changes significantly for the rematches. The main Maverick voice acting will sound like their original selves, but will sound corrupted and half-dead in the rematches in the fortress stages. The most noticeable ones are Chill Penguin, Flame Mammoth, and Storm Eagle.

Continuity

Unlike Mega Man Powered Up, this remake has several continuity problems with the rest of the series. This is due to the remake sacrificing ties with other games in favor of compromising them with more solid storytelling. It was also the intention of Keiji Inafune to completely redo the first six games of the X series, but this project was abruptly discontinued. These are some examples of the continuity with the rest of the series being ignored:

Dr. Cain discovered X many years ago (as opposed to months), and is artificially extending his life via mechanical support to oversee the Reploids. He also fears he does not have long to live. Towards the end of The Day of Sigma, a missile also destroys his home in Abel City - with him inside it (although it is left ambiguous as to whether Cain had actually died or not).

Vile's story is merely considered a "what-if" scenario, as it conflicts with X's game. However, the line by Sigma to "retrieve Vile" seems to foreshadow his remodel in Mega Man X3.

Dr. Light's reasons for sealing X are completely different from the version previously established. In the original storyline, Dr. Light sealed X in a special capsule that would basically test his moral integrity, because it would be necessary to determine whether X would ultimately make the right decisions when he entered the world. However, in Maverick Hunter X, Dr. Light is already confident with X's moral integrity, but seals him up because he believes mankind is not ready for him just yet.

Sigma's personality is depicted quite differently than in other games. Here, he is obsessed with the evolution of Reploids (which somewhat reflects his attitude in Mega Man X8), and is fascinated with X's potential rather than truly wishing to overcome the humans. He even directly states to Vile he plans to go Maverick to test X's abilities and bring out his true power, and instructs Vile to help him incite rebellion to help achieve this.

Due to the updated modern art style, other games in the series in which direct elements of the original game reappear (including flashback scenes such as the opening animation in Mega Man X5 and CD versions of Mega Man X3, as well as character designs in Mega Man Xtreme and Rockman ×over) are based on their original SNES counterparts.

Trivia

The music "Encounter with Sigma" is similar to "Foolish Humans" from the video game Shadow the Hedgehog.

Similar to Mega Man Powered Up, this was supposed to be the first game in a remake series of Mega Man X 1-6, but because the game sold poorly, the idea was dropped, with Mega Man Powered Up meeting the same fate.

This is the only game in the X series in which Vile is a playable charecter.